Caribbean Capacity Building Programme

Transcription

1 Caribbean Capacity Building Programme World Heritage Sites in the Caribbean Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, Barbados, 2011 (C) An outstanding example of British colonial architecture consisting of a well-preserved old town built in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which testifies to the spread of Great Britain's Atlantic colonial empire. The property also includes a nearby military garrison which consists of numerous historic buildings. With its serpentine urban lay-out the property testifies to a different approach to colonial town-planning compared to the Spanish and Dutch colonial cities of the region which were built along a grid plan. Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, Belize, 1996 (N) The coastal area of Belize is an outstanding natural system consisting of the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, offshore atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons and estuaries. The system s seven sites illustrate the evolutionary history of reef development and are a significant habitat for threatened species, including marine turtles, manatees and the American marine crocodile. Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda, United Kingdom, 2000 (C) The Town of St George, founded in 1612, is an outstanding example of the earliest English urban settlement in the New World. Its associated fortifications graphically illustrate the development of English military engineering from the 17th to the 20th century, being adapted to take account of the development of artillery over this period. Old Havana and its Fortifications, Cuba, 1982 (C) Havana was founded in 1519 by the Spanish. By the 17th century, it had become one of the Caribbean s main centres for ship-building. Although it is today a sprawling metropolis of 2 million inhabitants, its old centre retains an interesting mix of Baroque and neoclassical monuments, and a homogeneous ensemble of private houses with arcades, balconies, wrought-iron gates and internal courtyards. This document has been updated by UNESCO Havana. Only for CCBP. Images and descriptions are from the World Heritage Centre. (C) Cultural site / (N) Natural site UNESCO/Ron Van Oers dbking Evergreen Government of Barbados Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, Barbados Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, Belize Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda Old Havana and its Fortifications, Cuba

2 Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios, Cuba San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Cuba Viñales Valley, Cuba Desembarco del Granma National Park, Cuba Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba Effervescing Elephant UNESCO Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios, Cuba, 1988 (C) Founded in the early 16th century in honour of the Holy Trinity, the city was a bridgehead for the conquest of the American continent. Its 18thand 19th-century buildings, such as the Palacio Brunet and the Palacio Cantero, were built in its days of prosperity from the sugar trade. San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 1997 (C) Commercial and political rivalries in the Caribbean region in the 17th century resulted in the construction of this massive series of fortifications on a rocky promontory, built to protect the important port of Santiago. This intricate complex of forts, magazines, bastions and batteries is the most complete, best-preserved example of Spanish- American military architecture, based on Italian and Renaissance design principles. Viñales Valley, Cuba, 1999 (C) The Viñales valley is encircled by mountains and its landscape is interspersed with dramatic rocky outcrops. Traditional techniques are still in use for agricultural production, particularly of tobacco. The quality of this cultural landscape is enhanced by the vernacular architecture of its farms and villages, where a rich multi-ethnic society survives, illustrating the cultural development of the islands of the Caribbean, and of Cuba. Desembarco del Granma National Park, Cuba, 1999 (N) Desembarco del Granma National Park, with its uplifted marine terraces and associated ongoing development of karst topography and features, represents a globally significant example of geomorphologic and physiographic features and ongoing geological processes. The area, which is situated in and around Cabo Cruz in south-east Cuba, includes spectacular terraces and cliffs, as well as some of the most pristine and impressive coastal cliffs bordering the western Atlantic. Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba, Cuba, 2000 (C) The remains of the 19th-century coffee plantations in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra are unique evidence of a pioneer form of agriculture in a difficult terrain. They throw considerable light on the economic, social, and technological history of the Caribbean and Latin American region. 2

3 Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, Cuba, 2001 (N) Complex geology and varied topography have given rise to a diversity of ecosystems and species unmatched in the insular Caribbean and created one of the most biologically diverse tropical island sites on earth. Many of the underlying rocks are toxic to plants so species have had to adapt to survive in these hostile conditions. This unique process of evolution has resulted in the development of many new species and the park is one of the most important sites in the Western Hemisphere for the conservation of endemic flora. Endemism of vertebrates and invertebrates is also very high. Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos, Cuba, 2005 (C) The colonial town of Cienfuegos was founded in 1819 in the Spanish territory but was initially settled by immigrants of French origin. It became a trading place for sugar cane, tobacco and coffee. Situated on the Caribbean coast of southern-central Cuba at the heart of the country s sugar cane, mango, tobacco and coffee production area, the town first developed in the neoclassical style. It later became more eclectic but retained a harmonious overall townscape. Historic Centre of Camagüey, Cuba, 2008 (C) One of the first seven villages founded by the Spaniards in Cuba, Camagüey played a prominent role as the urban centre of an inland territory dedicated to cattle breeding and the sugar industry. Settled in its current location in 1528, the town developed on the basis of an irregular urban pattern that contains a system of large and minor squares, serpentine streets, alleys and irregular urban blocks, highly exceptional for Latin American colonial towns located in plain territories. Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica, 1997 (N) Luxuriant natural tropical forest blends with scenic volcanic features of great scientific interest in this national park centred on the 1,342-m-high volcano known as Morne Trois Pitons. With its precipitous slopes and deeply incised valleys, 50 fumaroles, hot springs, three freshwater lakes, a boiling lake ; and five volcanoes, located on the park s nearly 7,000 ha, together with the richest biodiversity in the Lesser Antilles, Morne Trois Pitons National Park presents a rare combination of natural features of World Heritage value. M. Bliemsrieder Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, Cuba Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos, Cuba Historic Centre of Camagüey, Cuba Evergreen Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica 3

4 Ricardo Briones Colonial City of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1990 (C) After Christopher Columbus s arrival on the island in 1492, Santo Domingo became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university in the Americas. This colonial town, founded in 1498, was laid out on a grid pattern that became the model for almost all town planners in the New World. National History Park Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers, Haiti, 1982 (C) These Haitian monuments date from the beginning of the 19th century, when Haiti proclaimed its independence. The Palace of Sans Souci, the buildings at Ramiers and, in particular, the Citadel serve as universal symbols of liberty, being the first monuments to be constructed by black slaves who had gained their freedom. Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, 1997 (C) The people of the Netherlands established a trading settlement at a fine natural harbour on the Caribbean island of Curaçao in The town developed continuously over the following centuries. The modern town consists of several distinct historic districts whose architecture reflects not only European urban-planning concepts but also styles from the Netherlands and from the Spanish and Portuguese colonial towns with which Willemstad engaged in trade. La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico, United States of America, 1983 (C) Ulises Jorge Between the 15th and 19th centuries, a series of defensive structures was built at this strategic point in the Caribbean Sea to protect the city and the Bay of San Juan. They represent a fine display of European military architecture adapted to harbour sites on the American continent. Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 1999 (C) Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is an outstanding, well-preserved example of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture in a Caribbean context. Designed by the British and built by African slave labour, the fortress is testimony to European colonial expansion, the African slave trade and the emergence of new societies in the Caribbean. Colonial City of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic National History Park Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers, Haiti Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico, United States of America Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, Saint Kitts and Nevis 4

5 Pitons Management Area, Saint Lucia, 2004 (N) The 2,909-ha site near the town of Soufriere, includes the Pitons, two volcanic spires rising side by side from the sea (770-m 743-m high respectively), linked by the Piton Mitan ridge. The volcanic complex includes a geothermal field with sulphurous fumeroles and hot springs. Coral reefs cover almost 60% of site s marine area. A survey has revealed 168 species of finfish, 60 species of cnidaria, including corals, eight molluscs, 14 sponges, 11 echinoderms, 15 arthropods and eight annelid worms. Hawksbill turtles are seen inshore, whale sharks and pilot whales offshore. At least 148 plant species have been recorded on Gros Piton, 97 on Petit Piton and the intervening ridge, among them eight rare tree species. The Pitons are home to some 27 bird species (five of them endemic), three indigenous rodents, one opossum, three bats, eight reptiles and three amphibians. Central Suriname Nature Reserve, Suriname, 2000 (N) The Central Suriname Nature Reserve comprises 1.6 million ha of primary tropical forest of west-central Suriname. It protects the upper watershed of the Coppename River and the headwaters of the Lucie, Oost, Zuid, Saramaccz, and Gran Rio rivers and covers a range of topography and ecosystems of notable conservation value due to its pristine state. Its montane and lowland forests contain a high diversity of plant life with more than 5,000 vascular plant species collected to date. The Reserve's animals are typical of the region and include the jaguar, giant armadillo, giant river otter, tapir, sloths, eight species of primates and 400 bird species such as harpy eagle, Guiana cock-ofthe-rock, and scarlet macaw. Historic Inner City of Paramaribo, Suriname, 2002 (C) Paramaribo is a former Dutch colonial town from the 17th and 18th centuries planted on the northern coast of tropical South America. The original and highly characteristic street plan of the historic centre remains intact. Its buildings illustrate the gradual fusion of Dutch architectural influence with traditional local techniques and materials. Ron Van Oers Pitons Management Area, Saint Lucia Central Suriname Nature Reserve, Suriname Historic Inner City of Paramaribo, Suriname Caribbean Capacity Building Programme 5